Numerous types of seeding implements are known in the agricultural implement art. Typically, however, these implements include a furrowing element which rides over the ground to be cultivated so that a portion of the element digs into the ground to create a trench into which seed is to be inserted. Depending upon the type of seed, the conditions of the earth, and other factors, the desired depth of the trench will vary. In order to provide a structure wherein the portion of the furrowing element which actually digs into the earth is limited, depth gauge wheels can be mounted to the implement alongside the furrowing element, and, in some structures, on either side of the element. The wheels have a circumferential surface which is wide enough so that the wheels will not sink into the ground which is being worked. The wheels can be selectively positioned at different heights with respect to the furrowing element so that the amount of the element which extends below the wheels can be varied.
One prior art structure of this nature is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,685,243, issued to C. C. Cole on Feb. 15, 1950. The structure of this patent reference includes a yoke having a pair of diverging forks. A depth gauge wheel is attached at the end of each of these forks. An arm common to both of the diverging forks is mounted to the implement frame or an appendage thereto. The yoke is mounted for pivoting about a point on this common arm. The height of the gauge wheels can, thereby, be varied with respect to the furrow element by loosening the bolt securing the common arm at the pivot point and allowing the yoke to be rotated. The yoke can, thereafter, be re-secured in another position by tightening the bolt.
The Cole patent is also illustrative of a seeder implement utilizing a pair of furrow disks comprising the furrow element. The disks angle inwardly toward the front of the furrow element so that, at front edges thereof, the disks approach one another. The depth gauge wheels straddle the disk arrangement so that each panel is positioned closely proximate the immediately adjacent disk.
With a structure such as that described, seeds can be deposited in a trench formed between the two disks. The depth gauge wheels function in the same manner as when there is a unitary furrow element.
Structures such as those illustrated by the Cole patent function effectively under only a limited number of specified soil conditions. Regardless of the height at which the depth gauge wheels are positioned with respect to the furrow disks, the spacing of the wheels from the disks remains relatively constant. It may well be that the structure illustrated in the Cole patent would function well in soil which is moist and pasty. Since the wheels are positioned closely adjacent the disks, the wheels will have the effect of scraping from the disks soil which becomes encrusted thereon.
Under different soil conditions, however, a different spacing between the wheels and disks may be more desirable. Under drier soil conditions, for example, it may be more desirable to have a greater lateral spacing of the components. With a greater spacing, interference of the operation of the disks may be prevented by precluding clogging which might occur as a result of the wedging of dry soil clods between the wheels and disks.
It is these deficiencies in the prior art to which the invention of the present application is directed. A structure manufactured in accordance with this application affords the user of the seeder implement flexibility in configuring the disk/wheel arrangement as a function of soil conditions.